Dream Catcher
by CheonSongYi
Summary: His dreams are too transient to be caught. But will her presence change that? Modern alternative universe Bleach fic. Eventual ByaRuki. T for now.
1. Start and End

A/n: This may seem ByaHisa, but it is not, because I do not ship them.

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><p><span><em>Chapter 1 : Start and End<em>

Approximately seven years ago, Byakuya fell in love with Hisana. Their love was beautiful, as it was meant to be. It was undeniably their first.

Both were separated by the distinction of class; he was next in line as the next heir of a notable conglomerate, after the untimely demise of his father, and she, an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl, a nobody, when compared to his grand status.

One would think that they had no means to even meet and interact, but they were brought together on the day when Hisana spilled a coffee on his coat by mistake. It was funny really, how, being the hot-headed youth he was at that time, Byakuya looked up to reprimand the waitress, looked up into her violet orbs and realized that he fell in love at first sight.

Not hesitating even for a moment, he asked her, "Will you… go out with me?" He was about to say something much more extreme, but stopped himself.

The girl kept her eyes trained on the damage she had done, bowed deeply and muttered even more apologies, "… I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I really am. Please don't get me fired. Pleaseplease just-"

Grabbing her hand, he asked again, "Will you go out with me?"

"E-Eh?" Her face had confusion clearly written on it. "Go out? As in go out of the shop?" she asked innocently.

Byakuya wanted to laugh out at her response. What a beautiful and guiltless person she is…

His heart had decided that she was the one with whom he wanted to spend his life. Spring came and their love bloomed. They grew closer as time elapsed, as fall covered the town in brown, and winter in white.

They were together for five years; five years that felt like five eternities to him. That is why his world came to a standstill when she was gone. That is why his time seemed to be frozen somewhere in the past.

Hisana was a dream too beautiful to see; he realised that later.

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><p><em>End of one. <em>

_To be continued._

A/n: Please review!


	2. The Day When

A/n: This takes place six years after the previous chapter.

It will take turn towards the main pairing after I take care of the Hisana business. That will probably be after this chapter or maybe next to next. I don't want to make the story look too rushed.

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><p><em><span>Chapter Two : The Day When<span>_

It is a dull afternoon. Grey clouds hang low and hide the sun from shining out and thunder roars ominously, as if foreboding the coming of a bad omen. A demure party, dressed appropriately in black for the occasion, assembles in front the gravestone of the late Lady of the Kuchiki household.

"_Hisana…"_ the name slips off his tongue in a low whisper; it is as easy as breathing. The sad emotions related to it flood him inadvertently.

He stands there, in front of the last remembrance of his beloved, surrounded by members -_ prying, judgmental, busybodies - _of the Family. They never cared for her well-being when she was alive, and openly caused her mental and emotional abuse.

He holds back a sudden feeling that descends upon him, angry and mournful at the same time, and turns it into a detached expression. A mask that prevents his real self from leaking out, a mask that prevents the world from reading him.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Byakuya manages to look straight, and face the priest chanting a Shinto verse. He does not know at what point in the ceremony they are, just that it is going to get over soon. He is right. Hushed voices and sounds of traditional wood sandals are heard as people move about.

The former head, Kuchiki Ginrei, is meeting the guests and accepting their condolences, nodding slowly. Excusing himself to the side, he approaches Byakuya slowly and addresses him in a grave voice, "Byakuya."

Said person knows that this was not a statement or a simple calling of the name. It was a question, _Are you satisfied?_

Not one to lose at his grandfather's mind games, Byakuya acknowledges him back, "Jii-sama." He has neither the answer nor the patience for that sort of a query. Giving a respectful, he takes his leave.

"I hope that you remember," Ginrei's voice interrupted, "that no more disobedience will be tolerated."

Byakuya grits his teeth, but does not let his irritation show "I remember well."

He moves outside the sacred burial grounds, walks to his car, where the chauffeur has opened the door and steps into it gracefully. "To the office." He instructs.

Using work as an excuse to work frustration off is a bad habit already.

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><p><em>End of two <em>

_To be continued_

A/n: Review if you must. I'll explain more about the timeline and such next chapter.

Thank you isaraaries and PetalMedic for the reviews! You guys made my day.


	3. Once More Time

Summary, because I haven't given a proper one yet: Byakuya and Hisana married each other, but she is no more. He is broken by her death and also by the guilt of not fulfilling the promise of finding her sister. In later chapters, we will see that the Kuchiki Family has a hand in the latter (I'm so evil). Rukia, on the other hand has faint recollections of her sister and is leading her life in hiding. Age gap between them is six years.

This takes place exactly one year after the previous chapter, on the same day, Hisana's death anniversary.

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><p><span><em>Chapter Three : One More Time<em>

The rain never seemed to stop today; it was as heavy as his heart was. It was the day exactly two years after Hisana's demise. Not often did you see the Chairman of Kuchiki Corp. sitting solemnly in a corner of a local eatery. But when you did, it had to be something.

Yoruichi-san sat across him, gulping down alcohol at an extremely fast rate. Like last year, she found him here, trying to drink his sadness off. In this respect, he had to agree that her ability to sniff people out was akin to dog. After a long silence, he said,

_"I want to die."_

Following the cowardly but boldly spoken declaration, there was a pregnant pause. The dark woman sitting in front of him looked him in the eye and said in a grave tone,

"Don't."

Byakuya actually expected, no, wanted her to react in her usual, cheery and loud manner. He knew that he was giving reality a slip, by running away, gradually giving up on living altogether.

"Why… should I not?" he questioned unconsciously, eyes shadowed by his raven, overgrown bangs. Byakuya was never one to drown his worries in such a manner, always one for an if-not-downright-handsome, neat look. However, that day he just did not care. His mind was contemplating other, very serious things. Things like making his suicide attempt look like an accident or jumping in front of a truck.

"You've got someone to live for now," she said.

His eyes widened a fraction and he reckoned her in surprise. As far as he was concerned, that 'someone' he could give his life for was already gone but he asked anyway,

_"Who is it?"_, with more enthusiasm than he wanted to show.

Shihouin Yoruichi's eyes shone with secret glee as she dug out a piece of paper from her bag and passed it over. It seemed like a map, for few smudged pencil marks were present on it.

"This is?"

"I found Rukia."

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><p>It took a minute for him to register the words in his mind fully. Either his bottled up guilt was playing tricks on him, or a trip to the doctor was due.<p>

"You found… _who_ exactly?"

Yoruichi rested her chin atop her palm and leveled her gaze. "Remember the promise? I found that girl."

Byakuya remembered the promise all too well. In fact, there was not a single day he had forgotten about it; he _could not_ have.

"What are you talking about?" he spat out through gritted teeth. "There's no way she would be alive." Anger flashed in his eyes at the atrocity of the statement, of the betrayal this meant.

"Listen here. Go to this address, it's written at the back of the card. I'm sure it's her."

"Shihouin-san, if this is a-" Byakuya began in a decidedly irritated tone. She held up a hand to stop him mid-sentence.

"Just go. Trust me on this." Taking the last swig from her sake cup, she stood up and placed some yen on the bar counter.

"So long, Byakuya-bo, call me if there are any problems, and thanks Oji-san!" she shouted the last part out to the bartender-cum-restaurant owner, who raised a hand in greeting.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot, you gotta invest more in that beauty products company. Just saying." Throwing this last piece of advice and a wink in the direction of a very confused Byakuya, Yoruichi-san moved out of the place, sheltering herself from the rain. Byakuya was angered at the blatant and hurried lie she just told and at the nickname. But he could just stare from the shop window as she flagged down a cab and entered it.

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><p><em>End of three<em>

_To be continued_

A/n: Thank you, isaraaries, for the review and

Jana LC, Unwavering Heart and frossenangel for the follows. New readers as well!

Please review!


	4. On the Way

This one is just too shabby and all over the place. But, it had to be done, so here it is. I blame this chapter for my long absence from the story.

A/n: Thank you nazarin-san for the support!

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><p><em><span>Chapter Four : On the Way<span>_

The car proceeded down the road, haltingly, because of the rush hour. Outside, the rain came down in torrents. Byakuya focused his gaze on the drops that beat against his window. He leant towards the fogged glass and stared at them. Yoruichi-san's words were still turning in his head.

_I found Rukia…_

It seemed… impossible. Byakuya had been searching for Rukia since the time Hisana told about him, on her deathbed. The inability to do that brought forth a great feeling of helplessness within him, one that he was still coping with.

In him, who was possibly the most expressionless and inexpressive man on earth – even if he accepted that himself –after two years, the mere mention of this girl aroused such emotions of deep contemplation and questioning.

But before he could think of anything else, the car had entered a not-so-posh area of the city. He dug around his pocket for the paper containing the address.

_114, Rukon Complex, _it read.

Committing the information to his memory, he slipped the paper back inside his pocket and instructed the driver to stop the car at the next left turn.

Once outside, the keen eyes of the Kuchiki head took in the features of the underdeveloped surrounding he had been presented with. Shabbily dressed children roamed the streets, shouting and calling out to each other loudly. A little girl took the courage to venture a bit too close to him for comfort, but Byakuya ignored her and moved on.

Finding the compound in which Rukia supposedly lived was not difficult, thanks to the fact that there was only a single narrow road, which he followed. A tatty board declared the name of the place,_ Rukon_. Byakuya looked around to find some trace of _civilized_ civilization, but all he saw was some other kids shouting and playing in a puddle of muddy water. Wanting to sigh, he moved closer to the main building.

Inside, the apartment complex was eerily quiet. There were no elevators, _of course_, but Byakuya found his way quickly to number 114 by taking the only flight of stairs in sight.

As he stood in front of the decaying door of the hundred-and-fourteenth apartment, he felt… what? Was that a hint of anticipation? Fear?

Sure it was. He could be in denial for all he wanted, but Byakuya knew that he did feel a bit of dread – both at her being there, and not.

Without thinking of anything else, he knocked on the door that looked like it would fall apart any moment, and waited.

"Is anyone home?" he called out, and heard his own voice echo two times in the empty corridor. There was no response for a few more minutes but Byakuya thought he heard the shuffling of clothes, so he waited more and tried to curb the odd feeling that he was experiencing.

When five minutes had passed, and there was still no answer, Byakuya was a little more than suspicious. So this really _was_ a prank of the cat-like co-worker of his, he should have known. Though part of it was also his fault for being too curious and gullible. He was about to move out, when the door opened just a creak. His earlier hope returned but the actions that followed put a damper on it. A rough-looking brown envelope was let out of the small gap and then the door shut abruptly.

On a closer inspection, one could find the following words scrawled on its head:

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><p><em>This is the manuscript for the final chapter; my job on 'The Guitar' is done. Notes and other clarifications are inside this envelope. Please notify me about the new serialisation by sending a message at the usual place.<em>

_Thank you._

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><p>He stared at the note with utter disbelief. Perhaps for the first time in his life, Kuchiki Byakuya had absolutely no idea what to make of the situation.<p>

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><p><em>End of four<em>

_To be continued_

A/n: Go on, tell me it's bad. I'm not even afraid anymore because I know that my "skill" – if there ever was one – has rusted off.

However, if by any mischance you did happen to like it, do review.


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